


Those You Carry

by notanightlight



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Animal POV, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notanightlight/pseuds/notanightlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arod's thoughts about his rather unusual riders.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those You Carry

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta-ed. So if you see any glaring errors, please let me know.

Arod watched his riders as they chattered to each other by the riverside he had led them to.  They tended to do that a lot, chatter back and forth, a great deal more than his Delfidd used to.  Delfidd had been so quiet, but so steady.  

Arod still missed Delfidd fiercely.  He supposed he always would.  Delfidd had been the first rider he was ever given, after all, and losing him had been so painful.  He hadn’t really been able to believe that those terrible orcs had managed to kill his precious rider until the night had passed.  

He remembered waiting for Delfidd to wake up, thinking that he would be blustery and snappish with their herdmates because he slept through so much of the battle.  He recalled pawing at the earth they covered he and Hasufel’s rider with.  It had seemed like such a silly thing to do… they couldn't ride all covered with earth.

It hadn’t been until the sun rose, and he and Hasufel both remained riderless, that it truly sunk in that his rider was gone.  Dead.  Arod thought he would die too, from the pain in his heart.

He realizes now that he might have gone mad, broken, and wild as he had seen happen to others who lost their riders, had it not been for these two strange creatures.

Arod looked over his riders watchfully.  No man would ever replace Delfidd, but then, his herd never tried to replace him with another man.  

When herdleader Éomer decided to give Arod and Hasufel the new riders they found on the plains, Arod had been skeptical.  He just lost one rider, and now they were going to trust him with another?  

He had been even more surprised when they decided to give him two!

They were such odd riders.  Arod will admit that it took him some time to figure out their names, and even longer to differentiate between ‘Legolas’ and ‘Gimli’ as distinct names instead of ‘Gimlilegolas,’ ‘Legolasgimli,’ and ‘Legolasandgimli,’ for the pair.  For some time he called them ‘Wheat’ and ‘Earth’ in the privacy of his own mind.  He still finds those names fitting.

The two of them were so out of place, standing there on the plain, that Arod knew someone had to help them.  If no other horse was able to do it, then it had to be him.  

Legolas (wheat colored hair, ears like a man’s but with points like a horse’s, cheerful, soothing nonsense chatter) came to him right away.  He spoke with words that made sense to Arod’s spirit, if not his mind.  He smelled like growing things, which brought a little peace to Arod’s dark mood.  But when he first climbed on Arod’s back, Arod knew that he needed a good horse’s help.  

He was so light!  Far too light.  He weighed so little that Arod had to check over his shoulder to be sure he was actually settled.  What could be so wrong with him that he was so slight?  Was he ill?  Was he not given enough to eat?

It was to Arod’s continuing frustration that, try as he might, he could put no weight on his Legolas.  He tried to lead him to places where food was plentiful.  Legolas seemed to appreciate this, and would praise him in his soft, song-like voice for finding thick groves, full plains, and other growing treasures, but he still did not eat enough.  He ate so much less than any of their herdmates.

Gimli did not have that problem.  

Now Arod could look back fondly on how Gimli had been when they first met.  His bold Gimli (earthen smell, sturdy stance, firm, friendly pats to Arod’s neck) had been so _skittish_ back then.  Arod remembered how his Gimli had held his shoulder so tense, shuffled his feet, and eyed Arod warily.

In the time since then, Arod had tried to be patient a coaxing with Gimli, but this had been frustrating at times.  Gimli had barely been trained, and neither of his new riders were exactly up to the level of training they gave their Rohan riders.  Still, Arod was proud of the progress his Gimli had made...

That first moment when the two of them, one so fragile and the other so jittery, sat clinging to each other on his back, Arod swore he would do better by them than he had his poor Delfidd.

From the beginning, Arod knew that his new riders were special, but it wasn’t until Lord Shadowfax told he and Hasufel that their riders were a part of _his_ herd that he realized how _important_ it was to carry them.

Who else would aid and defend his riders if not himself?

And they did need his protection so many times.  Even as he began to win his Gimli over, and started sneaking some of the treats he was given into his Legolas’s pack, his riders prepared to face down hordes of offensive Orcs.

The first time the Orcs came for his new riders, Arod smelled them before he saw them.  He nearly panicked when he realized that he was missing a rider.  He was so flustered, trying to spot that particular wheat colored hair, that it took him a moment to realize that Gimli had been trying to move him forward.

He swore he would train his riders so well that all of their signals would become near instinctive, and neither side would have any more confusion.  That training is ever a work in progress, but they are improving.

The relief he felt the moment that miniscule weight landed on his back was decidedly brief, because no sooner had he gathered up Legolas, than Gimli jumped off.  His Gimli had a distressing habit of wanting to fight on the ground.

It’s true that his Gimli has good stamping feet, perfect for packing the earth firm, but Arod would feel better if he would just stay in the saddle like a sensible rider should.  Arod had tried to make a compromise, and teach Gimli the best ways to kick and stomp attackers, but he just never seemed to pick them up.

So many times Arod had to carry his Legolas and Gimli into the sight of blood, the smell of Orcs, the sound of horse screams, and falling riders, and hope that he would be able to carry them out again.  

During the last battle, the big one at the gates to the wastes, he lost sight of both of his riders.  The terror in his heart growing as he became more and more sure that he would never find them.  He was certain that they would be covered in earth like his Delfidd, and he would go mad, pawing at the ground until he found them.  He still didn't know who to thank for bringing them back to him.

Arod glanced at them as they splashed at the edge of the river.

He was so very lucky.

His Gimli and Legolas were such special riders.  And he was not ashamed to say that there had been times when they had carried him.  Like at the dark place full of not-life, his Gimli had been a firm presence with him, and his Legolas had brought Arod through on words of life and light through that cold underground.  They carried each other.

Now they don’t have to fight in great battles anymore, but Arod will still protect them.

He worries about the things he cannot carry them from.  

He thinks that his Legolas has grown ill, or is paining in some way Arod can’t see.  He gets so quiet sometimes, and his eyes seem like he’s staring at some far away place he cannot look away from.  When he gets like that, it’s almost like he could be blown away, like so much chaff on the wind.  It frightens Arod.  He think it frightens Gimli and Legolas, too.

Arod always tries to nudge Legolas back to the here and now, but it is his Gimli who is the best at bringing their bright haired rider back to them.  

They are in the river now.  Arod snorts and wades in after them.  The current is strong and Legolas is still so very light.

Arod gets a firm grip on Legolas’s hair with his teeth.  That should at least keep him from being swept away, he thought, as his Gimli’s laughter rang out and his Legolas gave him a confused glance.

They were not the easiest of riders, but they were certainly worth taking care of.

 

 


End file.
